A Healthy Sense of Hope

Here's an inspiring story written by Sonja Waters of grist.org about how those of us who are parents (and yes, the non-parents of our generation) have to help our children (and other peoples' children) develop a healthy sense of hope about the future. The story is punctuated with a somewhat humorous dialog between Sonja, her teenage daughter who is having climate nightmares and her mother (the grandmother in the story). There was a lot that our generation (essentially the baby-boomers) have done for clean water, clean air and tolerance of differences in our society, but the gloom and doom of the future exists for our kids. They see big, big problems, melting ice caps, suicide-bombers, the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons, and wonder whether the world will end in their generation.

So what are we doing about giving them a sense of hope? We tell children not to talk to strangers, to avoid fast-food (at least most of the time) and to study really hard to get ahead (ahead of whom?). Are we really preparing them well for the future? I've worked hard for over twenty years in my career, a testament to my children that hard works sort of pays off. Both of my children understand the importance of working hard. But that's not enough. As role models for the young (yes, that's us, not Kobe, certainly not Roger Clemens, maybe, maybe Tom Brady) we should be doing our best to make the world a better place for our children and that requires effort.

So, what are you doing to make the world a better place for our children?